


Making of a Diamond

by ChasingTheSea



Category: Aladdin (2019), Aladdin - Fandom, aladdin2019 - Fandom
Genre: Action, F/M, Fluff, Hurt, Love, Other, aladdin - Freeform, aladdin2019, anything could happen, homeless, street rat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-04-23 22:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19160323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChasingTheSea/pseuds/ChasingTheSea
Summary: A year before the events involving the cave of wonders. Aladdin and Abu navigate the increasingly dangerous streets of Agrabah, thanks to the presence of several new factions who have slowly infested the city.Aladdin vows to rid the city of them after a nasty run in with their leaders... who knows where this will take him.





	1. Bath Time

CHAPTER ONE

 

The fresh scent of rain was mingled atop the layers of dust, sand and ancient stone, it started as a gentle patter and became a downpour with in an hour, washing away trial ruts, animal droppings and the heavy vendor smells from earlier in the day. 

The diminutive form of the street urchin, Aladdin watched the rain from under the archway of his leaky hideout, with a carefree smile on his face. Rainstorms were somewhat unusual in Agrabah. Abu didn't like rain and their hideout leaked like crazy so maybe it was a good thing it only happened every so often, otherwise their few shabby belongings would be ruined.

Still though... He loved the smell they brought with them, fresh cool water mixed with the dirt, sweat and everyday life of Agrabah, the gleaming spires of the palace. They always looked especially fabulous the following day and he had the best view of the palace from here... sometimes he just wished he had someone he could show this place off to.

Aladdin silently chided himself for feeling illustrious and a touch conceited, no one else was going to, and there were people with a lot less then what he and Abu had stowed away here and managed to keep secret. Did that make him selfish? Or uncaring? Aladdin was no more unimportant than the old man that they'd passed earlier, on the edge of the street, sitting in the dirt.

His sigh climaxed to a growl, reflecting the inward struggle. He held his hand out under the runoff from what was left of the eve of the roof, the water rushed over it, turning a dirty brown on the other end, which served as a reminder of his current position in life.

“Nothing is permanent.” His mother used to say, or he thought she used to say. It seemed so long ago, sometimes he wondered if he had always made up things to fill the dark gaps and enrich his meager little life in whatever way he could. His memory of both his parents blurred more and more every year. It scared him, if he stopped to dwell on it.

“Come on Abu, come out. You know we have to do this.” Aladdin called out to his only friend as he nonchalantly paced round the tower room, hands behind his back, looking for his monkey.

Abu chattered at him from somewhere over his head. Telling him how much he didn't agree. Aladdin smirked. “Neither of us have had a bath since nearly harvest last year. I'm going out without you, and you'll be here all alone... in the thunder and lightening.”

Abu sounded doubtful and Aladdin had reached the point where he had to prove his point. He grabbed a makeshift towel and headed down the stairs, he was crouching to leave the small hideout door before Abu caught up to him, a swirl of brown rushed past out into the rain. 

Aladdin tried not to flinch against the huge, chilly rain drops as he removed most of his clothing. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching but they seemed to be in the clear. The two of them spent the next thirty minutes under two different run off spouts, washing themselves until there was no more dirt or sand swirling down the street. Aladdin was much more of a mess then his monkey, his black hair was discolored to a rusty brown and horridly tangled, it was so dirty. His skin was caked in a vile mixture of sweat and dirt. The boy grimaced as he used his nails to rake the dirt away from his flesh. What he wouldn't give for some soap.

Abu looked surprisingly proud of himself, when they'd finished, but his human counter part checked all the monkey's work to make sure he hadn't faked the scrubbing. Aladdin felt better than he had in a long time, certainly as refreshed as the city would feel in the morning. He shook water out of his hair and went and checked the rain bucket he'd placed under one of the other down spouts, to wash their clothes. It was running over. Aladdin dutifully scrubbed, twisted and drenched everything him and Abu had for clothing, he then took everything back inside to hang across a line to dry. 

He resumed the position on the balcony, just under the arch, to stay dry, looking over the twinkly city lights towards the ocean. Abu chirped and made a chilled movement, wrapping his arms around his wet body. 

Aladdin grabbed an over-sized blanket and handed him a corner of it. “The clothes will dry soon.” 

Although really all his pet monkey wore was a vest, how warm was that? What they needed was a fire to warm themselves, but Aladdin feared lighting one here, especially right now. Their hideout was all they had, a truly safe place in an uncertain life. It had been safer at one point but over the last year or more, several gangs had slowly been building, some of the members were distant travelers, some of them were the scummiest the city had to offer, either way none of them cared about Agrabah, and they were becoming more and more of a problem, their numbers bolstering and ravaging the... more destitute parts of the city. Just two days ago, Aladdin had barely managed to out maneuver them. He was fast, but they weren't the usual slow, well paid guards or the lazy overweight vendors, he occasionally burrowed food from...

In fact they were a growing concern, to him and hopefully other officials through out the city. They'd sacked several businesses and were moving every few months to a new hideout. Aladdin feared for the safety of this place he called home. He wasn't going down without a fight, but he hadn't decided what the best course of action was either...

Aladdin settled down beside Abu, pushing his long wet hair out of his face and pulling the recently acquired blanket over part of his lap, the monkey curled up beside his bare leg, shivering. 

“Sorry Abu. But we really did need a bath.”

Outside, somewhere not far away, they heard a horn sound off, piercing the rain. It meant an attack or a robbery had just happened. These new hordes were going to keep committing parlous offenses until the Sultan had no choice but to increase the militant presence within the streets of Agrabah, it was already happening but it would get worse and then people who literally had no other way of eating but to steal some food here and there would be treated the same as the murdering brutes.

Aladdin shook his head, leaning back against the stone wall. What was to become of them. He needed to think of something sooner, rather then later. 

His stomach growled emptily as his reminder of the sooner part.


	2. Drawing Attention

The next morning was not the glorious sunrise Aladdin had been hoping for. Instead an angry grey sky and a cool breeze roused him from an already chilled sleep he'd fallen into on the floor. He rolled over, rubbing his eyes and stretching. It was a few minutes before he realized something was missing. It was far to quiet.

“Abu?” 

Aladdin felt his heart skip several beats, as he glanced around, eyes burning with the force to be more awake then he actually was. Abu wasn't under the blanket or in the corner with his collection of stolen objects that interested you when you were a monkey.

Aladdin slipped into his mostly-dry clothes. He might be on the roof or the balcony. No need to overreact... just yet. “Abu?” 

He checked those places that were most obvious, with no luck, before winding down the tower. Which was blocked off and locked at the bottom, from years ago when it fell out of use. The mischievous monkey didn't normally have a reason to be down here and he didn't see him anywhere, which meant he must be out somewhere. A rarity, Abu was loyal and didn't usually go anywhere without Aladdin, which concerned the street boy.

He left the tower in such a rush he didn't even retrack the makeshift stairs. It might seem strange to some, but Abu and him had been together for what felt like forever. Aladdin was suddenly crushed with a sample of what it would feel like to lose his faithful, tiny friend. 

He found himself near panic after fifteen minutes of shouting and searching as many of their hangout spots as were close to the hideout. Where could he have gotten to? His vest was gone, so he'd left on his own. 

“Abu?” Aladdin shouted again, with slightly less vigor then before. This time someone from a nearby house hollered for him to shut up. Aladdin glared in their general direction and bit his lip. There was nothing to do but continue and keep expanding his search.

…......

 

Four hours later found Aladdin trudging through the thick streets, his heart was sick and heavy. He hadn't had any luck in his desperate search. He was hungry. He was colder then usual, thanks to this weather. But most of all he was just heart sick. Normally Abu and he would be threading the bustling streets, pick pocketing a stray coin or ring? 

Definitely by now they would have gotten something to eat, no matter how small.

Aladdin heard a goat bleat and it gave him a sudden idea! 

The animal market! What if... if Abu had went out earlier? 

Perhaps for a snack?

What if the unthinkable happened, some trader or worse, those new thugs had snagged him for a sale. Aladdin was worried but it gave him hope of finding him. He changed direction suddenly, cutting in front of a horse and rider, who screamed at him for his overall incompetence, the dark haired boy didn't bother apologizing, he burst into a run. The market was several blocks west of the main vendor street.

The animal market square smelled very much like what it was. Any thoughts about food quickly fled Aladdin's stomach as he wove among the peddlers, the patrons and the customers. Flashy horses reared, cattle mooed, chickens clucked. The crowd was noisy and dense today, there were guards and states people every where, some of them seemed to have been drawn in by exotic animal sales, that happened less often then the regular animals.

Aladdin continued his battle through, he pushed and squirmed, bumping into a group of colorful peacocks-their owner was more polite than most, asking him to please be more careful. Aladdin apologized verbally and with a small bow. kind people deserved respect even if he was on a desperate monkey hunt. 

In several places the assemblage was impassable, he had to climb up and over, taking to the sturdy tent roofs, he stayed low, until he finally reached the other side, where small cages were stacked, row after row. Multiple breeds of Chickens, lizards, monkeys and snakes awaited uncertain fates. 

Aladdin flinched as he heard the monkeys scream, one of those fearful cries could be Abu. He wanted to fly into the middle of the cages and break them all open. His better side warned against it. The giant-sized man guarding the sales looked like someone the 17 year-old did not want to tangle with, he was four times his size and half again his height.

Aladdin dropped silently down and sneaked behind the cages, searching hundreds of them as quickly as he could. His piercing gaze suddenly retreated to something that caught his eye. A patch of red amongst all the brown. 

Abu's vest! He'd found him!! Aladdin wanted to cheer but instead he gulped, of course his monkey was in the center of the cages, the hardest to get to. 

“How did this happen?” He complained to himself. He tried to calculate the scenarios. Glancing at the sign that depicted prices for each animal. He could never hope to buy back Abu, not with outrageous prices like that! Of course any price was to much when you didn't have a single coin. 

Breaking him out was going to be tricky. This place was crawling with brutes, brutes with weapons and cuffs. Getting tossed into the Agrabah cells was not going to help Abu either. There was a chance he could wait until night, maybe Abu would go unsold and Aladdin could sneak back in and set him free... 

“Hey boy,” The huge peace keeper had noticed his loitering. “Move it along, unless you want to be in one of those cages with the monkeys.”

Aladdin's eyes narrowed but he obeyed, scuttling off as the ogre made a mock stomp toward him to intimidate him. Aladdin cursed his situation as he faded back into the crowd to wander and think, he normally didn't feel cheated by his life but he felt the sting of an unfair world.   
Abu was his only friend and now even that was at risk... if he had a little more he would barter for his monkey's return, but most merchants could spot, what they normally referred to as, "street trash," in an instant, they would run him off, or he'd get a beating, especially if he pressed it.

No, he had to think smart, he had to be wittier then the vendors, and the other thieves who'd stuffed Abu in a cage. He continued circling market square, scoping the movements, what was going in and coming out. A distraction might sound cliché but he wasn't seeing many other options. The cages were locked but he could break them. And the bigger animals weren't locked up, they were just behind makeshift enclosures.

But there was something else Aladdin had noticed in his observations, the Bahira gang was heavily involved here. Their colors were everywhere, on the monkey vendors coat and many of the peace enforcers wore their purple sash. They were thieves and murderers, they probably had supporters in the official kingdom guards circles. Aladdin knew their kind, they wouldn't fall for one small distraction, he was going to have to do something exceptionally flashy to capture their full attention and if he made this choice, there wouldn't be any going back, if they found out who he was ... there would be recompense.

Oddly, Alddin didn't give it much thought. Maybe in the moment he found himself feeling lofty. He was really fast, and this wouldn't be the first time someone would try to catch him. Escaping precarious situations was what he'd grown up doing. The bottom line was, he wasn't abandoning Abu, so he bolstered his confidence with an extra thick layer of thoughts, like, those guards can't move as quick as I can. The ogre-giant can't climb a wall and jump the way I can. 

The distraction still needed to be big… Aladdin's dark gaze cast one final sweep, coming to a stop on the last ingredient for his chancy plan. He looking down at his boots and sighed, this was going to either be spectacular or the end of his natural life.

“There's no way I'm leaving Abu.” He assured himself this was going to work one last time. He drew a deep, final breath and sprang into action. 

The sheep were in the least confined enclosure, so that was where his rebel rousing was to start. Aladdin darted in and out, their gate was open when he left and their Sheppard none the wiser.

As Aladdin darted through the crowd to the next more dangerous objective, he heard the expected commotion from the sheep escape. He kept his back turned until this animal's keeper moved off to investigate the disturbance. The keeper didn't notice the slight boy brush past him, lifting his keys...

Well the disturbance was about to get a whole lot worse. Aladdin hesitated only a second to rethink this plan, then he reached forward, plunging the key into the lock, twisting and throwing the gate open. He didn't wait around for the occupant to decide to come out.

The lion he'd unleashed wasted no time in exiting his prison, but Aladdin was on top the tent moving away, the guards and potential buyers were suddenly panicked. He heard the lion growl, and grimaced he hoped neither the lion or innocent people were hurt but it had to be done. 

The market was suddenly in a total frenzy, people running and screaming, a horn sounded for Agrabah guards. The lion had already attacked the nearest guard but Aladdin didn't look back, he jumped off the low roof, rolling to come up in a crouching position next to the enormous dining tent. Now empty inside, the tent was lit by multiple torch lights. Aladdin ripped two of them down and threw them on each side, against the tent material, the intent was an immediate reality, Aladdin recoiled, as the flames leapt quickly up the sides. 

Time to go.

Back outside the chaos continued. Between the lion, the sheep and the people, several more enclosures had been broken, horses, peacocks and cows were running this way and that, the guards were trying to catch them and defend against the lion. Aladdin slipped behind a long stack of crates, and skirted the edges back around towards the monkeys. 

Something smacked into Aladdin suddenly, sending him in a half circle, he landed hard, and heard his knee crack. Several people, mad with fear, were to blame but they didn't stop to help him, which annoyingly he couldn't even blame them considering this was his fault.

Aladdin pushed himself back up, continuing his dash, slightly more aware. His heart lightened as he came back to the monkey cages. He wasted no time digging through them, towards Abu, his monkey noticed him immediately and let him know about it. Aladdin glared and ssshhhed him. Pointing towards the building with feet who had not been as drawn into the mayhem as Aladdin had been hoping. 

Abu held his hands over his mouth but hopped back and fourth in the small cage in anticipation for his master to get to his. Aladdin finally pulled it out, with a bright, huge smile. He carefully set it down, grabbed a rock and smashed the simple lock. He barely got the door open before Abu jumped into his arms, with a cry of joy.

“Abu!”

The huge ogre patrol turned on them, promptly and Aladdin felt his face drain of color. Of course the one person around here he really didn't want to tangle with was the only one to notice!

“Put that monkey down, thief and I won't break you in half.”

Aladdin jumped to his feet, backing away. Abu followed, springing up his arm to his usual shoulder perch, where he clung lovingly to his neck. Aladdin had to dig deep to find his voice and even so it came out feeble . “He's my monkey, I made him that vest. Who's the thief?”

“You can take that up with Nadav if you want. Now hand him over.”

Aladdin snorted. “Right, I'm sure that would turn out to be fair. There's a lion behind you, you know.”

The trick worked, however brief, but the thief stole the second, turning to make his escape up over the wall. He made it three hand holds up before he felt an iron hand clasp his ankle. He tried to hold on and kick the attacker away but it was no use. Abu screamed as they were both ripped down and tossed backward into the cages. 

Their fall broke apart multiple cages, monkeys and chickens joined the other rampant animals while Aladdin desperately struggled to find air somewhere in his body. He could dimly see the ogre patrol leaning over him, and then he felt the man's enormous boot come down on his chest, driving what little air he did have back out. He tried to squirm out, but he was seeing stars. 

Aladdin heard Abu and he heard the ogre scream, and flail backward, beating the monkey off his neck. But his foothold on Aladdin vanished as he fell backward and the boy was finally free to gasp several painful lungfuls. Enough to clear the haze and push himself to his feet.

The giant was still waiting for him when he did. He reached forward and snagged Aladdin's wrist before his oxygen deprived brain could react and drug him towards the stall. The street boy didn't know what for, but it couldn't be good. He pulled against the other's grip to no use, he kicked at him, no reaction.

“Stole a monkey, broke cages, you owe the boss for all those that escaped. But don't worry kid I'm sure you can work it back to her.” The patrol explained with a smirk. He eyed Aladdin's struggle with a creepy smile. “In one way or another.”

Sheer, deep horror gripped Aladdin. He would prefer to face the lion rather than be locked up, or forced to work. His life and freedom were the only gifts he had. That terror took over all his rational thought. He threw everything he had into escape, he kicked, bit and clawed. Until something sunk in and the other let him go with a scream. Aladdin fell backwards, he kicked himself further away, grasping around in the dirt for something to fight with, his fingers wrapped around something long and slender, he aimed the rod at the giant's head and with all his might he brought the blow down, it connected with a solid crack.

Aladdin was splattered with something warm, that could only be blood, he didn't wait around to see who was bleeding. The would-be-captor screamed and tumbled backward, while Aladdin scrambled the opposite direction, to his feet. Yelling for Abu, he ran for the wall. 

This time he jumped higher, leaping to the top with two risky hand holds, Abu was on his shoulder by then; together they ran several lengths of the wall before Aladdin used a pole and an awning to propel them across the street to the next set of roofs. 

He ran at full speed, jumping across roof after roof, until he could barely breath. They finally slid to a stop, tucking in behind a hut with several rugs stretched out above. Aladdin didn't expect the ogre patrol to have followed, but he wasn't taking any chances this time, he hadn't been expecting the fight he'd ended up with either. He was shaking, Abu was too. “Are you okay?” he asked, between gasps of air.

Aladdin timidly touched the back of his head, through the tangle of black hair his finger's came away with his own blood, from a lump that was swelling. Abu's face was giving him a fearful question. "I'm fine, it's just a bump." He told him soothingly, as he inspected Abu for injuries, to take his mind off his own wounds, his own fear. 

Abu nodded, but he was cradling his left arm. Aladdin took it next, gently, the bones didn't feel broke but it was tender and bruised, if the boy'd been anyone else he would have already been bitten for poking him. His monkey looked remorseful for once. Knowing his actions this morning had endangered them both.

“It's okay Abu, just maybe no more outings by yourself.” Aladdin finished cleaning the blood off his own neck and cheek, trying to keep the quiver out of his hands, beside for the growing knob on his head, he had several bad bruises of his own and three deep cuts on his forearm from the scuffle. “Something tells me neither of us is going to be going out much. It's the Bahira take over, I'm betting they're who took you too.” 

Abu nodded and Aladdin gritted his teeth. “And now they'll know what we look like. I don't think they're going to forget this, Abu. We may be in a lot of trouble.”

Abu buried his head in his arm with a sob. Aladdin nudged him on the back. “It's okay buddy. I would never have left you. And I could have just as easily been the one to get snagged. He... he was going to take me to their “leader”.” 

Aladdin involuntarily shivered. Abu copied him and then peaked out from their hiding place, giving him the signal that it was clear. "Stay low. Follow me, " Aladdin instructed. 

There was no one around, but they could still hear the commotion raging back at the square. Chaos, Aladdin was directly responsible for. Maybe costing someone their life, all for his monkey.

He stubbornly regretted nothing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope anyone reading this enjoys Chapter 2. I had a lot of fun writing it, as just a fun past time. Let me know what you think...  
> Once again as a disclaimer I do not own Aladdin, Abu, Agrabah etc

**Author's Note:**

> I felt so inspired to write this little tale after the new Aladdin release, what a magical movie. I definitely do not own any of these characters mentioned in this chapter, this is just a fun fan fiction. A darker look at life as a street urchin in Agrabah, there will be more chapters. I'm not sure how many, sorry for the shortness of chapter one.  
> But thank you for reading, drop a comment to let me know if you like it and would like to hear more!  
> XOXO


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